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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27195991">Carving a God</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14'>NeuroWriter14</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>NW14 Does Halloween [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cannibalism, Do not repost, Halloween, M/M, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Pumpkin carving</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:07:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,568</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27195991</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been two years since Will and Hannibal fell over the cliff and Will wants something normal, even though he's never had it before.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>NW14 Does Halloween [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946689</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Carving a God</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hannibal told himself he should stop being surprised by anything that Will does anymore. After years of knowing each other, six in all — over half a decade —the other man managed to surprise him. Still. After everything. After everything they had been through, it was Will's mundane request that surprised him. It had been a year since the two of them fell over the cliff, a year since they crawled out of the ocean. Or rather, since Will crawled out of the ocean, hauling Hannibal behind him. And still, Will managed to surprise him. He had managed to surprise him when he stitched him up with steady hands. Had surprised him when he stayed at Hannibal's side, even though they both had the chance to go wherever they wanted. He was surprised still when Will followed him all the way to Cuba. </p><p>Will seemed to immediately be better in the heat. Hannibal rarely ever saw him in anything other than layer upon layer of flannel, but Will seemed to shed the clothes like a second skin. Now, Hannibal often saw him in shorts and t-shirts or even without a shirt at all. It wasn't as though either of them had much hidden between them. </p><p>When Will began to talk at their breakfast one morning, Hannibal was certain it would be the same mundane small talk, or perhaps even discussing their next kill. Their last one was currently the sausage. </p><p>"It's October," Will said suddenly. </p><p>Hannibal ate his current bite, watching Will's face after his sudden declaration. Ocean-blue eyes stared back at him, nothing on his face betraying what was likely swimming under the surface. </p><p>"So, it is," Hannibal answered. </p><p>"It's almost Halloween," Will continued, still not betraying whatever was running through his mind. </p><p>This Hannibal was more than well aware of. He had seen the decorations starting to pop up. In Baltimore, whole doors were decorated for Halloween and pumpkins adorned front stoops. He didn't grow up with Halloween as others had, but even he was well aware of the significance of the holiday. Or at least what it meant in the past. Now, it was mostly a commercial holiday or a day for people to wear masks that exposed who they really were. He had a particular fondness for the holiday in that respect. How many people had he known that dressed up as cannibals? How many actually were without knowing it? </p><p>"Yes," He confirmed after a moment. Will still watched him intently. "If there is something you want, Will, you need only ask." </p><p>"Pumpkins." He said quickly. Hannibal had the distinct feeling that Will was enjoying his unfiltered reactions to his random statements. Or well, random to Hannibal. The other clearly had a train of thought that he was carefully guarding. Mostly, they never tried to guard things against each other anymore. After the fall off the cliff, there was really not much to separate them. Not that there had been much before. But sometimes, he would find them playing the same game of keep-away they had years ago. This was one of those times. Hannibal waited for the other to continue. "We should carve pumpkins." </p><p>Hannibal raised an eyebrow. "That is not something I expected you would want. Most people carve pumpkins in childhood." </p><p>Will shook his head slightly, his curls shaking with the movement. "No." He ate a bite of his barely touched breakfast. "Never did. But I want to do something normal for once." Will's eyes shot to his once again. "Are you saying that you wouldn't like to use your artistic talent and penchant for carving things?" </p><p>He should be annoyed at Will's ability to appeal to his ego. Or really, Will's ability to appeal to him in general. He was far too wrapped around the finger of the other man at the table to be healthy. Not exactly like Will wasn't around his too, but the other took far more pride in his possession of Hannibal.</p><p>Hannibal relented far too easily. He'd give Will the moon if the other asked for it. Even though Will never asked for anything big. Between the two of them, it was Hannibal who had likely asked more. He'd requested Will's company, Will's partnership. And the other gave it. They lived in the same house, they hunted together, they spent most of the day at each other's sides even if they weren't doing something together. They read, Hannibal drew, Will found something to entertain his hands. And then night would come and they would go to bed. Then the next day would come and they would do it all over again. </p><p>Hannibal spent the next day hunting down pumpkins. </p><p>Will looked up when he entered, a pumpkin under each arm, and smiled softly. The other set down the book he was reading to move over to Hannibal and grasp one of the pumpkins. One of the many things he was reminded of around Will was the fact that he still had a heart. He had suppressed it for years, kept it down and out of sight. He thought he didn't need anyone else. Until Will came into his life with a surly attitude and eyes that saw too much. Nothing more intimate than shared kills had happened between them, yet the other's soft smile was enough to make his heart suddenly backflip. </p><p>Will looked over the pumpkin. "Thank you, Hannibal." </p><p>Hannibal smiled to himself. </p><p>The next day, they were sitting on the floor of their house in Cuba. There were a variety of papers and discarded magazines on the floor and a pumpkin in front of each of them. Will's eyebrows furrowed in focus and a few wayward curls fell across his forehead as he drove the knife into the pumpkin and began working. Hannibal had already decided to save the innards for a recipe and had a plate set out between them for them to deposit the insides on. Will had washed his hands beforehand and was currently scooping out handfuls of the innards without hesitation. Hannibal wasn't afraid of getting his hands dirty, but Will seemed to enjoy it, diving into the pumpkin as easily as he did when they hunted together. Hannibal was more distant than Will when it came to hunts. Will used his hands every time. He was wild. He was beautiful.</p><p>He was no less beautiful now.</p><p>Hannibal focused on his own pumpkin. He had an idea in mind. Given Will's allusion to his artistic talent already, he suspected the other knew Hannibal would have some sort of extravagant art on his pumpkin. And Hannibal planned to do just that. </p><p>Will was intently focused on his pumpkin, his hands a mess with the innards. Hannibal wanted to sketch him just like this. He wanted the way his curls fell over his forehead and the intensity of his gaze and the way the innards clung to his hands. He wanted to capture the way his fingers worked over the pumpkin and the way his body was positioned. </p><p>Hannibal's attention was divided between the pumpkin and Will. He was genuinely surprised at how mundane yet fun the task was. Or perhaps it was watching Will that was the fun part. He didn't quite know. </p><p>It was an hour later, or maybe more, when Hannibal was finally done. Will had been watching him for the better part of the hour, having finished whatever design he was doing, and leaning back on his hands to watch Hannibal. He could feel the weight of the other's gaze and it was nearly as heavy as the sky by the time Hannibal finally set down the paring knife.</p><p>"You couldn't keep it simple could you?" Will asked, his eyes alight with humor. "Which Botticelli painting did the pumpkin suffer?"</p><p>Hannibal smiled at that, turning the pumpkin for Will to see.</p><p>In fact, it wasn't exactly Botticelli. But it wasn't not either. Will resembled St. Sebastian incredibly, enough that the artwork that Hannibal had carved could be either of them. And only he and Will would know which it really was. </p><p>A few emotions crossed the other's face. Hannibal couldn't quite decipher all of them as one was quickly replaced with another. He should have remembered how fast Will was though as he barely looked away from the other's heavy gaze before Will was at his side. He turned, finding lips brushing over his own. Will was watching him as their lips barely touched and Hannibal was elated. He pressed closer, shifting from a gentle brush of lips to a full-on kiss. And Will returned it. Their eyes slid shut in tandem as they pressed closer. Will's hand moved to grip his shoulder. Hannibal remembered a distinctly similar situation, right before Will pitched them into the ocean. They were standing at the edge of another precipice now, and Will seemed determined to pull them over this one too. </p><p>Will shifted slightly, using his foot to turn the pumpkin while his kisses moved to Hannibal's neck. He looked over at the pumpkin, finally seeing it.</p><p>The other was sucking on the skin of his neck, right at his pulse point, and could likely feel the way Hannibal's heart skipped a beat. </p><p>He pulled Will closer, claiming his mouth once again.</p><p>The pumpkin was firmly situated in his mind now, the carving setting Hannibal's heart on fire.</p><p>
  <em>I love you. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Feel free to come yell at me on <a href="https://neurowriter14.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/NWriter14">Twitter</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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